'Genius' and 'dummy' arrested in Broward drug house robbery sting

Two South Florida men who thought they were going to rip off as much as 33 pounds of the "purest coke in the States" from a cocaine stash house in Broward County, wound up being charged in a sting operation.

Prince Rashad Taylor, 31, a homeless man from Miami, and Andre Kanaya, 34, of Miramar, were arrested Feb. 5 on federal charges they used firearms and conspired to rob drug dealers and steal their cocaine.

Federal agents said the men showed up with guns, rounds of ammunition, a machete, electrical tape, gloves, black clothing and a suitcase to carry their share of the drugs.

It was only when agents arrested them at an undercover location in Broward County that they realized that they had been set up and all their conversations planning the robbery had been secretly audio recorded by agents, according to court records.

Both men will remain locked up pending trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lurana Snow ordered Wednesday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

The case began when an informant, who has not been publicly identified, told agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that he knew someone who might be interested in pulling off a crime.

During a December meeting at a bar and restaurant in North Miami, Taylor spoke with an undercover agent who posed as a "disgruntled narcotics courier" who wanted to rob drugs from his employer — a Colombian drug-trafficking organization.

Taylor introduced Kanaya to the agent and told him that Kanaya was qualified to plan and commit the cocaine stash house robbery, based upon his past experience.

"Taylor described Kanaya as a 'genius' and himself as 'the crash dummy'" of the operation, ATF Special Agent Adrian Halley wrote in court records.

"Taylor acknowledged the danger associated with the robbery of the cocaine stash house by stating [that] if he died committing the robbery, he would be buried as a 'G'," which the agent said meant "gangster."

The agent who was pretending to be a courier told the men that the drugs he transported for the organization were some of the purest cocaine available.

Officials said Taylor reassured the agent in the taped conversation that Taylor would keep his involvement a secret, saying: "I will put a bullet in my mouth before I snitch."

The men met with the agent in January at a bar in the Oakwood Plaza in Hollywood and discussed their tactics and how many armed guards would be at the house, prosecutors said.

Among the items seized from the men when they were arrested on Feb. 5 were a Glock 9mm pistol and eleven rounds of ammunition and a Taurus .380-caliber pistol with twelve rounds of ammunition, agents wrote.